Monday, May 7, 2012

summer reading list

i know it is ambitious, but since i have just about survived the most insane year of my life, i think i can handle a chunky reading list this summer... in between lying by a pool with rebecca and baby rhodes, planning for next year with hayley, going to california for a month, and, of course, watching all six seasons of The Wonder Years, I hope to move the following off of my bedside table:



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how to read literature like a professor. my mentor assigns this for ap lit summer reading and it is amazing. how was i an english major without reading this? seriously, every rain scene in every movie since i skimmed this book has hit me like a bolt of lightning. 


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never let me go by kazuo ishiguro. a modern frankenstein. recommended by another ap teacher (and 'mentor' in my head). she teaches ap lang by having students read a classic and then read a modern version and compare the two. see also Moby Duck. 

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the other wes moore by wes moore. a boy from the projects in baltimore grows up to become a rhodes scholar and finds out another boy with the same name from the same 'hood is in prison for attempted murder. the tagline reads: " The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." because I just haven't gotten enough urban ed this year...

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gift from my mentor. I have read a few of these and love it. My goal is to read at least ten more and peruse the publisher's website to help me prepare for next year. 




these i have started reading and need to finish:
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voices from Chernobyl: the oral history of a nuclear disaster. I didn't realize how cheery my list was. my sister bought me this for my birthday a few years back and I am about halfway through. i am really in a nonfiction rut lately and i love it, even if the first chapter left me in a funk for a few days. 

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cormac mcCarthy is my new favourite author. new as in I am adding him to my list of favourites. also new because for some reason I have been living under a rock and have not read him before. (i know!) the sparse syntax and freedom with punctuation (freedom from?) mirror the rugged western setting and makes me long for home. 

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glory: one gallant rush. this is the book on which the movie is based. i also hate to admit i just saw the movie a few years ago and then spencer got me the book a year later for my birthday. sooooo good. i can't use too many 'o's on that one. if you feel the need for a good, long cry, watch it. (not sure if the book will make me cry- will let you know)

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this one is a reread so i can see if i will teach it next year to my 8th graders. i am a big fan of latino literature- love in the time of cholera, like water for chocolate, etc. exposed to it at an early age, i didn't realize magic realism was a thing until later. it just seemed like people really do burst into flames or cook their emotions into their food. again, probably missing home, latin culture just feels normal to me, and i am excited to find new favourites since half my kids will be hispanic next year!


that's it. seems manageable, right? 









3 comments:

  1. Good luck. I determined to read four books a month this year and I'm well ahead of my goal. But the books I picked aren't exactly Harvard material, so...I can't exactly get all proud and stuff. Do I get to see you this summer??

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  2. yes, of course- whether you want to or not! well, I don't think this list would impress harvard either, especially since I'm already partially done- that's the best way to start a to-do list!

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  3. hey friend! i've caved and am reading Hunger Games. currently paling in comparison... xo

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